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What have the FA (the supposed guardians of football in England) done to this fine old competition? Being a child of the seventies I grew up on the importance of the Cup Final being a yearly tradition where the nation stopped for 90 minutes and everyone enjoyed the romance and drama of this major sporting occassion. It was always the last game of the season, 3pm kick off, four or more hours of build up, Des Lynam, hot sunny afternoon, resplenent old Wembley etc etc.

Slowly but surely the romance is dying and now finally we a 5:15 kick off on ESPN!! Its 'just another game now' and because money is ruining the game, we have two teams who have already played at the new characterless Wembley and whose fans wont have the 'once in a lifetime' thrill about them. As if to underline the decline even the weather is going to be shite this year, almost cant be bothered to watch it.

Yep, it should be the last game of the domestic season, 3pm kick off. A thank you to everyone involved in running the game from grass roots upwards.

Now it's just another game, something to get out of the way. So FA, don't complain clubs aren't taking it seriously anymore, when you aren't.

Could not agree with you more, the game means nothing to the average punter anymore. Might not even go down the pub to watch it.

Maybe a late kick off due to other league games still taking place this afternoon? I like to watch it but I'm also watching my local league side.
Maybe they are trying to get the FA cup out of the early due to the euro champ starting soon and england will need their players in training????

I blame, ITV and Simon Cowell! The latter the worse coz he's BGT is shite and losing in the Saturday night ratings, So ITV put the game on later!

The sooner they get shoot of Cowell the better!

I remember the Saturday mornings with "its a knock out" featuring teams from both the cities in the final...Stuart Hall , Eddy Waring etc.

also the players getting on the coach... the build up etc. great childhood days.... all sadly gone now!

Often one of the sides would have a very inexperienced player who would have a blinder, players going down like flies with cramp and many in tears at the final whistle.

I couldn't give a fuck about it any more quite frankly. I know that Chelsea have just won it but I couldn't be arsed watching it. As others have already said, these days it's just another match on just another Saturday, with sod all in the way of glamour, aura and mystique. It's just another branded product ("The FA Cup sponsored by ...").

I can name every FA Cup winner and runner-up from as far back as I can remember (1968) up to 1995, but after that it's all just a blur. I know that the Arse, Chelsea, ManUre and Liverpool have all won it a few times since then but I couldn't tell you in which years and I care even less: The days of Cup Final upsets are also long gone, now it's just "same old same old" every year. Except for when Pompey won it a couple of years ago - at least that made a change from the "usual suspects", but I'm sure that the FA moneymen were apopleptic because finals featuring Cardiffs and Pompeys are simply not supposed to happen.

- Eric

Von Boy wrote:

> I remember the Saturday mornings with "its a knock out"
> featuring teams from both the cities in the final...Stuart Hall
> , Eddy Waring etc.
>
> also the players getting on the coach... the build up etc.
> great childhood days.... all sadly gone now!
>
>


Yes, It's A Cup Final Knockout, Cup Final Mastermind, community singing, The Road to Wembley, and KICK OFF AT 3PM! As you say all gone so the FA (Fucking Arseholes I think it stands for) can worship at the altar of the pound note...

Gusset Sniffer wrote:

> Maybe they are trying to get the FA cup out of the early due to
> the euro champ starting soon and england will need their
> players in training????
>
>

Yes, that would make sense except that the FA Cup is always played around the first or second Saturday in May and many of those England players will be playing for their clubs next week...